


Decisions, Decisions

by TigStripe



Series: Westhallen Haven [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, The Flash Drabble, Westhallen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 01:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: Barry, Eddie, and Iris have some profound thoughts about their futures, near and far.





	Decisions, Decisions

“Okay. Run it by me again.”

Barry smoothed out the paper in his hand and looked back at the list of dates in front of him as Eddie dried a dish near the sink. Dinner had ended, and Iris and Joe were off discussing who knows what while the boys cleaned up.

“December 17, 9am: Picture News party,” Barry announced after clearing his throat.

“We have to remember to get Linda a present,” Eddie muttered as he carefully placed the plate in the cupboard.

There was a somewhat rude noise from the chair legs as Barry seated himself at the dinner table. “December 19, 7pm: West Family Christmas.”

Eddie cringed. He hadn’t met anyone other than Joe yet, and the thought of trying to explain their situation with extended family didn’t sit particularly well with him.

“December 22, 8pm: Team Flash Christmas Party.” Eddie heard the smile in Barry’s voice, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile, too. He’d have to remember to ask Dr. Stein if he was attending, so Eddie could work on doing something special so he didn’t feel left out in the Christmas celebrations.

“And, of course, December 25, 4:30pm: Dinner at the West House.”

Eddie looked over at Barry, who was positively beaming. The smile was contagious. “I love the holidays,” Eddie admitted, a little self-conscious. “So much to celebrate, religious or not.”

“Same.” Barry got up and walked over to Eddie, helping him with the last couple of dishes. When Barry had safely put the final dish away, he turned to Eddie and wrapped his arms around the other man’s shoulders, feeling the cop’s hands on his waist. Their smiles persisted, and Eddie leaned in for a quick kiss right there, at the sink.

“What are we going to do at the West Family Christmas?” Eddie asked, eyes twinged with concern. “Do we tell everyone, or do we just chill?”

“I’ll ask Joe what he thinks about it later,” Barry replied. He squeezed Eddie’s shoulders just a little. “I know some of the family won’t be as accepting of our arrangement as others.”

Smiles shrank on both their faces, but neither of them let go of one another. Although Eddie did have a slight sense of impending doom regarding that night, he was sure that, as long as he was welcome at Joe’s, he would be fine.

“Barr? Eddie?” Iris’s call came from the living room. “You guys almost ready to go?”

“Sure thing, babe,” Eddie called back, and he grinned at Barry. “You ready?”

Another quick kiss was Barry’s reply. Eddie just hummed in amusement and the two of them headed for the living room, Eddie’s hand on the small of Barry’s back.

Iris didn’t see them as they approached the couch - she was too busy talking with Joe. Eddie took the moment to sneak another kiss onto Barry’s cheek, and the speedster couldn’t help but grin.

Joe stole a glance at the boys, then rolled his eyes. “Okay, we get it: you’re in love. Can we go now? The musical starts in half an hour.”

“I still can’t believe you got us tickets to this,” Iris said with a cheeky grin. “Or that you’re coming with. You hate musicals.”

“I do  _ not _ hate musicals,” Joe countered. “Remember all those times I’d sit with Barry for  _ Singing in the Rain _ ?”

Barry’s face turned a deeper shade of red, this time out of embarrassment, because Eddie had turned an amused smirk his direction. “And I’ve always appreciated that, Joe.” He leaned down and grabbed a pair of jackets from the back of the couch, handing one to Eddie.

As the four of them headed out of the house, Iris called out, “Shotgun!” Barry whined and Eddie laughed, patting him on the back and leaning his head on his shoulder for a moment. Barry took the front seat, while Iris piled into the back of the truck with Eddie. Joe just watched, shaking his head in amusement.

It was pretty flattering that Barry and Iris would argue over who got to ride in the back with him, but Eddie kind of missed being able to ride up front with Joe. Tonight, though, wasn’t the night to focus on things like that. Iris seated next to him, Eddie reached over and offered his hand. She happily took it, interlacing their fingers and putting their hands on her lap. She leaned over and placed her head on Eddie’s shoulder, relishing how comfortable it was. Eddie could feel her warmth and couldn’t help but smile. He would never be able to find the words to describe how he felt being with them.

The ride would take a few minutes to reach the theatre. To pass the time, Iris nuzzled into Eddie’s shoulder, her eyes closed. He looked down at her, chest swelling with a mixture of pride, happiness, and other, more complicated emotions, when Barry - talking excitedly about the musical with Joe - shot a look back into the back seat. He grinned, knowing how it felt to be in either of their positions.

The musical itself was spectacular. Even Joe was caught grinning from time to time, and as they left the theater, Barry could have sworn he’d heard Joe humming to one of the second act’s high energy pieces.

“You kids have fun and be careful,” Joe said, pointing to each of them as they stood together on the sidewalk. “I don’t want to get any reports of Flash shenanigans, got it?”

Barry gave a two-finger salute with one hand, the other wrapped in Iris’s arm. Eddie stood at Iris’s other shoulder, hand on her back. Joe just sighed and shook his head with a gentle smile on his face.

“So do we head home?” Eddie asked. “Barry and I do have work in the morning.”

“As if I don’t,” Iris pouted, and Eddie cleared his throat. “How about a coffee first, though? It’s so nice out, I don’t want to go straight home.”

“Isn’t it kind of cold out, though?” Barry asked, pulling what he could of his jacket closer to him.

Iris laughed. “If you’d bulk up some, you’d be warmer.”

“Or grew some facial hair,” Eddie added with the wiggle of an eyebrow. Everyone laughed, because they each know how disastrous Barry’s facial hair grew in.

“Quit picking on me,” Barry mock-whined, pouting. Iris leaned up and kissed the pout away.

“Never,” Eddie said with a smirk. “So. Coffee?”

“Two against one,” Iris called, raising a triumphant fist. “Off we go!”

Arm-in-arm-in-arm, the three of them made their way to Jitters, just down the road a few blocks. The air was chilled, but it couldn’t quite close in on the warmth they felt. Soon, they were in the warm café with hot chocolate (none of them wanted caffeine rushes at ten at night), gabbing about the musical and their plans for Christmas, among other things.

One topic in particular had them laughing and arguing together quite robustly: last names.

“Okay, okay. But ‘Barry Thawne’ sounds cool, right?” Eddie asked, gesturing widely.

“Oh, babe! You should  _ totally _ take Eddie’s name!” Iris laughed, grabbing Barry’s arm and giving it a hug.

“I don’t know, what if I wanted to take Iris’s name?” Barry asked.

Iris gave this some thought. “Only if Eddie did, too.” She shot him a mischievous look.

“I do  _ not _ need to have the same last name as my work partner,” Eddie said with a chuckle. “Detectives Joe and Eddie West? We sound like a married couple.”

“Or brothers,” Barry added, sipping his chocolate. After a moment, “On second thought, that makes it even weirder.”

Everyone agreed with nervous twittering.

Her eyes opened wide as Iris came up with an idea. “What if we hyphenate?”

“Hon, there are three of us,” Barry said softly. “How will that work?”

“Iris West-Thawne-Allen,” Iris tried. She made a disgusted face. “No, you’re right. Three last names is definitely too many, even if our names are short.”

“Well what if we don’t use all three?” Eddie asked. Intrigued, Barry’s eyebrows asked him to continue. “What if we each took one, but kept ours?”

Barry considered this. “You mean like Barry Allen-West?”

“Iris West-Allen? Wait. That would just make you Eddie Thawne,” Iris said. “So, Eddie Thawne-West?”

“But the West part-”

“Hyphenating is a little different, babe,” Iris replied. “You could still go by Thawne at work.”

“Huh.” Eddie collapsed into far deeper thought than necessary. “Thawne-West. I like it.”

Iris grinned. “I like West-Allen.”

“Barry Allen-Thawne?” The smile on Barry’s face went from ear to ear. “Sign me up.”

Eddie blushed. “This is just a hypothetical, Barr,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “We can’t all get married, anyway.”

Upset, Iris pouted. “Way to take all the fun out of it, Thawne.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and laughed. “Fine, fine. Just...don’t go picking out flower arrangements just yet, okay?”

The sound of Barry’s laughter lifted both Eddie’s and Iris’s hearts, and soon, they were laughing, too.

And so their night continued, joined by the sounds of carolers on the sidewalk outside the café and the laughter of the people around them. With no enemies to fight, the city was safe, so to speak, and they managed to have quite a nice night, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Alternatively, "Eddie West-Allen" is like the greatest name ever, but here we are.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
